Pharmacists' perceptions of a set of pharmaceutical care practice standards.
OBJECTIVE
This study assessed pharmacists' perceptions of the feasibility and relevance of a set of community-based pharmaceutical care practice standards.


METHODS
Practice standards generated in a Delphi study were rated for feasibility of implementation and relevance to improving therapeutic outcomes by a randomized sample of 315 pharmacists on two 7-point Likert-type scales. These ratings were compared with assessments by Delphi panel experts.


RESULTS
Pharmacists judged many of the standards favorably; however, Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA revealed that they were less confident in the standards' feasibility of implementation and relevance to improving patient outcomes than were the Delphi panel experts.


CONCLUSIONS
Pharmacists appear ready to accept a majority of the practice standards used in this study. The lower ratings by respondent pharmacists may be indicative of apprehension about embracing a new practice paradigm and a belief that the provision of pharmaceutical care services has a limited impact on therapeutic outcomes.
Desselle
S
S
Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, Long Island University, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201, USA. sdessell@titan.liunet.edu
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003697:Delphi Technique; D006801:Humans; D008145:Louisiana; D010595:Pharmacists; D010604:Pharmacy / Q000592:standards*; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000592:standards